CALL FOR PAPERS AND POSTERS
A transatlantic workshop
to be held at
the Zurich Botanical Garden, Zurich, Switzerland
organized by
the Institute of Environmental
Sciences, Zurich
July 10-11, 2006
Ecological restoration is the process of assisting
the recovery of damaged ecosystems. The highest goal for restoration
practitioners is usually to bring back the natural state, the state that
existed before humans transformed the land. In the Americas and other
New Worlds, the classic restoration goal is therefore a presettlement
state, be it pre-Columbian or pre-Indigenous. But determining presettled
states in Europe and other Old World countries is more difficult, so
that restorationists in these older lands may see their goal as reestablishing
ecosystem health or ecological integrity - or as reinstating former processes
instead of former conditions. It can be said that Americans restore while
Europeans renature.
The terminology of recent land-use policies reflect these semantic preferences,
with Americans enacting various "restoration" measures for
their damaged ecosystems, while the British, Dutch, German, Italians,
and Swiss often pursue plans for "new natures" and "renatures".
More than most interdisciplinary teams, historians and ecologists can work together
for improving the practice of ecological restoration. They can offer answers to such questions as:
- Which conditions should be brought back, and do such conditions represent new natures or betters pasts?
- What historical assumptions do we hold when we set out to restore, and what are the political and social implications?
- What can the historical record tell us about the nature of degradation?
- Can exotic species belong in properly restored sites?
- Can rewilding be a legitimate goal in Europe, or is this a Holy Grail better pursued in the New World?
- How can restoration history improve our current efforts to restore?
This two-day workshop will consider these and related
questions by focusing on how an understanding of the past can enhance
the way we restore and renature. It will bring together scholars from
both sides of the Atlantic and elsewhere who have thought about how restoration
history can inform the way we assist damaged ecosystems to recover. Discussions
will explore various case studies that revolve around the identification
of reference systems, the meaning of degradation, the past of restoration,
and the uses of history in land management. Some twenty speakers along
with their pre-circulated draft papers will spur discussion.
The scope of the conference is not limited by region or time period. English will
be the main language of the conference. To submit a poster, please send
a one-page abstract of the proposed poster along with a CV with relevant
publications (not longer than two pages) by May 15, 2006. Please send all inquiries and abstracts to:
Marcus
Hall
Institute of Environmental Sciences, University of Zurich
Winterthurerstrasse
190
CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland
Email: hall@uwinst.unizh.ch
Fax: +41-44-635 5711
Design by L. Strasser